Houston lawyer Buzbee offers to 'mediate' city,...

1of4Houston firefighters carry boxes filled with more than 32,000 signatures to put equal pay on the ballot to the City Hall Annex building Monday. The petition drive for the equal pay initiative began more than a week ago.Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez, Staff

2of4Houston firefighters carry boxes, filled with more than 32,000 signatures to put equal pay on the ballot, over to the City Hall Annex building last month. ( Godofredo A. Vasquez / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez, Staff

Tony Buzbee, a Houston lawyer who recently announced his plan to run for mayor next year, has offered to "mediate" a long-running pay dispute between the city and firefighters, one week after a judge blocked implementation of a voter-approved charter amendment that would grant firefighters equal pay to police officers of corresponding status.

In a joint statement Friday with the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association, Buzbee said he believes it is time "we equally value our police and fire first responders in Houston," seeming to indicate that he supports the push for "pay parity."

A spokesman for Mayor Sylvester Turner declined comment, referring to the mayor's previous comments that a judge should first decide whether a collective bargaining agreement can supersede a voter-approved charter amendment.

Meanwhile, fire union president Marty Lancton has publicly urged Turner to negotiate a contract, a request he repeated Friday.

"While he has refused, our offer to meet any place, any time, remains open," Lancton said in a statement. "For that reason, Houston firefighters accept Tony Buzbee's offer to help resolve our differences with the city."

Turner, asked after an October city council meeting about Buzbee's candidacy, said, "I don't even know who he is. Next question," then laughed.

Buzbee, who has amassed a fortune through lawsuits against corporate giants, announced in October that he would run for mayor next year. He once held a fundraiser for Turner's 2015 mayoral runoff against Bill King, but said he has been disappointed in the former lawmaker's tenure at City Hall.

Jasper covers City Hall, local politics and breaking news for the Houston Chronicle through the Hearst Journalism Fellowship program. He previously covered Bexar County and local politics for the San Antonio Express-News. Jasper graduated from Northwestern University in 2017 with degrees in journalism and political science. He has interned for the Tampa Bay Times, Washington Post and Fortune magazine.